96th National FFA Convention elects national officers, honors students

The 96th National FFA Convention took place Nov. 1 to 4 in Indianapolis, Indiana. FFA members from across the nation represented their home states and local chapters in the highest levels of FFA competitions. National FFA officers were elected and around 3,500 FFA members received their American FFA Degrees—the highest degree achievable for a member. Over 70,000 FFA members from Alaska to the Virgin Islands and from Maine to Hawaii were in attendance.

Of the many honors presented at this long-standing convention, the highlights included the announcement of the 2023-2024 National FFA Officer Team, American Star Award winners, Career and Leadership Development Events, Agricultural Proficiency Award winners and the American FFA Degree ceremony.

The newly-elected officer team includes: Amara Jackson of Michigan, who was elected president; Grant Norfleet of Missouri, who was elected secretary; Carter Howell of Florida, who was elected southern region vice-president; Kanyon Huntington of Iowa, who was elected central region vice-president; Morgan Anderson of Ohio, who was elected eastern region vice-president and Emily Gossett of New Mexico, who was elected western region vice-president.

Sixteen finalists were selected to be interviewed for four American Star Awards. The Star Farmer was presented to Daniel Jossund of the Ada-Borup-West FFA in Minnesota; the Star in Agricultural Placement was awarded to Whitney Glazier of the Lomega FFA in Oklahoma; the Star in Agribusiness went to Lainey Hutchison of the Crockett County FFA in Tennessee and the Star in Agriscience was awarded to George Free, a member of Cass Career Center FFA in Missouri.

For extended coverage of the awards received by FFA members across the High Plains, stay tuned for more reporting in the next issue of High Plains Journal.

Lacey Vilhauer can be reached at 620-227-1871 or [email protected].